Where bright angel feet have trod: the River to River Festival offers a moving spectacle

The Trisha Brown Dance Company will perform at the River to River Festival on June 26Stephanie Berger

Ever since squatting artists transformed the derelict factories of SoHo into luxury housing, developers have understood the value of introducing artists into a community.

Dance, too, has a role to play in monetizing neighborhoods.

Sam Miller, the president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the producer of this summer’s River to River Festival in New York, is upfront about it. Speaking about those areas on the East River waterfront and Governors Island where the festival will take place, he says: "A lot of investment has been made to make them more attractive to the public and more accessible. And one of our jobs is to create programming that punctuates these development processes. ‘Oh, look. This is a place you should come to. This is a place you should see.’ "

The East River waterfront, which still suffers from the after-effects of Hurricane Sandy, needs particular attention. Hence choreographer Wally Cardona and his partners, Jennifer Lacey and Balinese "topeng" master I Nyoman Catra, will present "The Set Up" Thursday through June 28 in a vacant storefront at 120 Wall St. Cardona is allowed to use the space in hopes that a high-paying tenant will move in later.

River to River FestivalWhere: Various New York locationsWhen: Today through June 29How much: Free, though some events require reservations; visit rivertorivernyc.com.

Arguably, artists could do more to leverage their catalyzing impact on communities. While they have not yet banded together to demand affordable studio spaces and housing in the neighborhoods they revive, at River to River they at least receive exposure to potential new audiences.

"What we try to do through this site-based work," says Miller, "is give audiences that come to the festival the chance to see work by important New York artists that they may not have discovered in a traditional, theatrical environment."

The dances of Trisha Brown will be a major focus this year, celebrating a great American choreographer whose early works made dramatic use of the urban environment. An exhibition currently on display in the LMCC Arts Center on Governors Island, for instance, includes a recreation of the set for Brown’s "The Stream." When this piece received its premiere in 1970, pedestrians were funneled through a U-shaped structure filled with pans of water.

Another dancer with a long history of public engagement is Eiko Otake, of the renowned dance duo Eiko & Koma. This time, however, Otake will be collaborating with Tomoe Aihara in a piece called "Two Women," Friday and Sunday, on Governors Island.

Some of the festival choreographers this summer are creating new, site-specific pieces, such as Tere O’Connor’s "Untitled" duet for Michael Ingle and Silas Reiner. O’Connor’s piece, performed Monday through Wednesday, will explore the relationship between the human form and the buildings looming over the pocket park known as the Elevated Acre.

Other artists, such as Okwui Okpokwasili, are adapting pieces originally created for the stage. Okpokwasili’s "Bronx Gothic" is a coming-of-age story that reveals itself gradually as two schoolgirls exchange surreptitious notes.

Vanessa Anspaugh, Souleymane Badolo, Maria Hassabi, Enrico D Way and Reggie Wilson are among the other choreographers who will be featured. River to River’s most high-profile event, however, will be an outdoor performance by the Trisha Brown Dance Company. Brown has been sidelined by illness since 2011, but on Thursday attendees will have another chance to see her farewell piece, "I’m Going to Toss My Arms — If You Catch Them They’re Yours" on Pier 15, where fading sunlight will add to the dance’s wind-blown atmosphere of loss.

Discussing the financial struggle Brown’s heirs face as they seek to preserve her legacy, Miller says: "This is a really important time to make audiences aware of Trisha’s historic role and impact on our world."